Kunoichi in Tortall
by Sufferingzombie
Summary: The girls of the Rookie 9, Temari of Suna and the former Iwa nin Kiseki fall through a portal and right into Tortall and right into the problems of women as warriors! Can they prove themselves? Can they get home? And what will their mates do without them?
1. Chapter 1

ME NO OWN.

Verily We Move Along

Pairings: Tenten/ Neji, Sakura/Gaara, Hinata/Naruto, Ino/Chouji, Temari/Shikamaru, OC/Shino.

Chapter One: A Messed Up Mission and a Whole New World.

It was a peaceful day on the border between Fire and Wind countries and the young kunoichi sitting in the hot spring they had found. The five Konoha kunoichi and single Suna kunoichi had been on a mission that had required the use of multiple kunoichi in an effort to stop a slavery ring run out of a border town. Gaara had requested help from Tsunade and had been given the five girls to support his sister, whom he had been extremely reluctant to put into the situation to begin with. The Sand Princess looked over at her comrades, her friends and smiled as she considered them. The first her eyes fell on was Higurashi Tenten, Konoha's weapons mistress; by far the best weapons fighter in either country. Next was Haruno Sakura, the young apprentice to the Hokage and secret lover of Sabaku no Gaara, the Kazekage. The medic and the Kage had met when Team 7 had come to Suna on a mission and while they had had a bit of a rocky beginning, eventually the two had come together beautifully. Her eyes next found the beautiful, pale eyed Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata was a beautiful young woman and another apprentice to the Hokage, though Sakura was the primary one. Hinata had proved to her father, if not the elders, that she was worthy to be the clan's heiress and her relationship with Naruto didn't really help. She loved Naruto with everything that she was and Naruto, dense as he was, had finally realized both her feelings and his own and had asked her on a date. The rest was history and Temari fully expected to receive a wedding invitation any day now. Yamanaka Ino was yet another woman that she never expected to befriend and whom she had once actually been in a bit of a rivalry with over Temari's boyfriend Shikamaru…until the beautiful blonde had realized the presence of the sturdy young man who had always been at her side. The final woman was not only odd looking, but wasn't even really a native of either Suna or Konoha. Tokara Kiseki was born in Iwa, but after a mission that went horribly wrong she was banished from her home and left to wander when she stumbled onto Konoha territory. She actually stumbled onto Team 9 as they were walking into an ambush that would have killed them. In fact it was only because of her assistance that the team had made it out of that alive and her assistance mostly consisted of throwing herself between a downed Lee and a well-aimed sword. She hadn't bothered to block it, so it had slid gracefully into her shoulder and she had turned sharply, snapping the blade when it caught between her collarbone and her top rib, both of which her diamond hard. The Tokara clan of Iwa was also known as the 'Diamond Bone' clan, a clan of shinobi that had the bloodline that made their bones preternaturally dense. This had the side effect of making the members of the clan extremely heavy, so they wore weights to be able to move faster. Kiseki weighed about two hundred pounds, despite the fact that she was only five foot five and thin almost to the point of unhealthy when she met Team 9. The blade hadn't hit anything vital, but with the injuries that she had already sustained during her banishment the blood loss it caused didn't help her any. She lay next to Lee for a few moments as Neji and Tenten finished off the enemy with the help of the newly arrived Gai-sensei, but forced herself to move before the fight ended. She didn't want to die just yet and she was well aware of the enmity between Konoha and Iwa, even if she didn't agree with it. She wound up leaning against a nearby tree, that being as far as she could get with the blade of the broken sword still in her shoulder as the team finished up the fight. From what Tenten had told Temari that first meeting had not gone very well at all, but Team 9 had quickly understood Kiseki's situation and just what it was that she had done for them and they were grateful enough to take her back to Konoha for treatment. She met with the Hokage, after escaping the hospital three times and nearly hospitalizing six orderlies due to her utter _loathing_ of medical facilities, and the rest, as they say, is history. Kiseki was put on probation for six months and then made a chuunin of Konohagakure. Temari was not yet privy to how Kiseki had nabbed the Bug-nin of the Rookie Nine, but she was willing to bet it would be one hell of a story. These five women had become the sisters that Temari had always wanted, but had never had the opportunity to have since her father had killed her mother sealing the One-tailed sand demon into her baby brother. She had grown to love the women around her; they gave her respite from her perpetually perverted, puppet-master of a brother Kankuro and from her too-stressed-for-words Kazekage of a baby brother Gaara and they understood her like no one she'd ever met (besides Shika, of course).

"So ladies, I guess this mission was successful."

"Yeah, who would have guessed that the rat bastard of a hotel owner was really the one in charge of the slave market? I didn't think we'd shatter the whole kami damn ring; I figured we'd just break off this bit and cause a bit of trouble for the shit heads."

"Kiseki-chan, please don't curse so much."

"Aw Hina-chan, I just call 'em like I see 'em."

Sakura snickered at the smirk on Kiseki's face, all of them wondering just how the strange young woman had managed to worm her way into the stoic Bug-nin's heart, while Ino and Temari burst out laughing at the familiar by-play.

"Okay ladies, time for gossip! Temari-chan, how's the lazy bastard? Are you having to do all the work in the relationship?"

Ino's voice was sly at the end and Temari couldn't help the blush that came to her face.

"Ino! Look, Shika is just fine and what we do in our _relationship_ really isn't any of your business."

So there.

"Well, I heard that a certain Hyuuga finally got something through his stubborn head about his Weapons Mistress…"

Now it was Tenten's turn to blush.

The women had a good laugh at the kunoichi's expense and the easy camaraderie between them relaxed all of them.

Unfortunately it should not have.

XXXX

It was so unexpected that they didn't even have time to brace themselves. There wasn't even the whisper of chakra or even a hint of what was to come as the women walked toward their campsite. They were on alert even though they were only a day out of Konoha, their senses piqued for any sign of an enemy attack, but what happened wasn't really an enemy attack. Kiseki would be their normal first alert, as she was hyper sensitive to all things chakra and even a bit of the ancient magic that had become mostly forgotten as time passed. Next would be Hinata, whose eyes, while not as far seeing as her father's or cousin's, could see in much higher detail. Then would come Sakura, who was very good at sensing chakra and how powerful one would be with it. The women thought that everything was fine and Kiseki didn't feel anything.

Hinata didn't see anything.

Sakura didn't sense anything.

So when the portal opened directly under their feet, none of them realized it until it was far too late to escape.


	2. Chapter 2

Me no own. Period.

Chapter Two: New Places and Meeting with Knights-to-be

Kiseki was the first to land, falling to the ground in a roll and bouncing back up fast enough that it would look as if she had shunshinned instead of falling. The first thing she did was to pull her mask from her hip pouch and slide it on, locking it into place. Temari was next and she hit in a similar fashion, but instead of rolling, which would be practically impossible with her tessen, she crouched and went into a front handspring, coming to rest in a perfect defensive position. Sakura didn't bother with rolling or flipping, she hit fist first and let her chakra-enhanced strength absorb the impact, Ino right behind her. Hinata used her unique ability with mizu-jutsu to practically float down. Temari could only glare at the graceful Hyuuga, who giggled behind her hand at the disgruntled look on the Suna kunoichi's face, which caused the other women to giggle. None of them felt anything anywhere near them and in fact a quick perusal had proved that there literally was _nothing _near them except the broad expanse of grass which they had landed on. Kiseki slowly came out of her crouched position, but immediately fell back into it when she felt the approach of horses through the earth. Kiseki was unnaturally connected to the element of earth, not only because of her home being Iwa, but because of her extraordinarily high affinity for the element.

"Horsemen approaching. Orders?"

Sakura was the ranking person, being the apprentice of a Kage, but Temari was just as highly ranked being both an ambassador and the sister and top advisor of a Kage, so the two women looked at each other. Temari nodded after a short amount of silence and turned to Hinata.

"Hinata, use the Byakugan to see how many we should expect. Ino, I want you next to her in case something happens, you two will team up if we're attacked. Tenten, I want you behind us as long range support. Kiseki, you go underground and wait for a chakra pulse. If I pulse, we're under attack, if anyone else pulses then they're friendlies."

Kiseki nodded and vanished into the earth without so much as a ripple. Temari took her fan from her back and leaned on it, leaving it closed for the moment while Sakura stood hip canted, gloves tight and ready for action. Ino had tightened the bandages holding her hair and had one hand on her hip, the other already in the first half of the hand signs required for her mind possession jutsu. Hinata had her byakugan activated and called out the numbers.

"It looks like a rather large group, but a lot of them are rather young. Most look no older than new genin."

"Okay, get ready everyone."

The six kunoichi prepared themselves for battle, wondering just what they were going to run into here in this strange place.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Keladry of Mendelain sighed wearily at the constant chatter from her friend Nealan of Queensgrove and tried to keep it to herself, falling back on her Yamani training to prevent her true feelings from being known. She greatly appreciated his support of her, but he talked far more than the Yamani did and it was rather tiresome sometimes. Peachblossom tossed his head as though he were agreeing with his mistresses assessment of her chatty friend and she smiled, knowing that the ornery horse would have liked nothing more than to take a chunk out of Neal's hide.

"Pages, halt!"

All the pages brought their mounts swiftly to a halt as Master Wyldan ordered them and waited as the adults conferred about something. It didn't take long and in fact Neal had only just managed to open his mouth for another round of chit chat when the Master turned to his students grimly.

"There are people ahead and they are unknowns. We will proceed cautiously to discover their purpose in our lands. I require you all to remain quiet while we ascertain who they are and what they want."

The tone was absolutely no nonsense and the pointed look he shot at Kel just brought her hackles up. She knew that he did not want her there, didn't think that she had what it took to be a knight, but she would not let the disagreeable man derail her. She nodded imperiously at him and settled herself into her saddle, patting Peachblossom once to assure the horse that she was fine even as he shuffled impatiently. The large group moved forward toward the gentle slope that blocked their view of the people their Master was so wary of. When they reached the top many relaxed, realizing that it was just a group of women. This upset Kel, having all the males here think that just because they were women that they were harmless. Well, she wouldn't underestimate them, she would stay on alert.

Just in case.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Temari watched the group approach, her face blank and her hand tightening on the battle fan at her side. She carefully sized up the group and found to her chagrin that there was only one female in the whole group and she was at the back beside a lanky male on a horse almost too small for him. The elder men looked like seasoned fighters, but there weren't enough of them to be much of a challenge to the six jounin. She noted the Hinata still had her bloodlimit activated and quirked a brow at the woman.

"There is a group approaching from the rear. It is made up of creatures I have never seen before."

"Damn. How far?"

"Approximately two miles."

"How long?"

"At the speed they are moving they will arrive in approximately twenty minutes."

Temari nodded and sent a look to Sakura, who nodded and turned to run toward the trees that the enemy would break from for detailed reconnaissance. Temari noticed that the warriors in the approaching group tensed at Sakura's exit, but couldn't bring herself to care as they cantered up to her and the others. She was secure in the knowledge that Kiseki was right below them and ready if something happened. She smirked as the men pulled their horses up about thirty feet in front of her and the one at the front dismounted.

"Identify yourselves and your purpose in Tortall."

She raised a brow and her hand tightened further on the weapon she was leaning on.

"Tortall? I don't know of any Tortall in the area. Can you tell us how far we are from Hi no Kuni? Or perhaps from Kaze no Kuni?"

The man looked bewildered at the names and shook his head, his hand going to the sword at his side. This caused Tenten to tighten her grip on she kunai and Ino to tense, which the man noticed.

"I know not of either of those places. Again, identify yourself."

Temari frowned and straightened.

"It is polite to introduce yourself first before asking the name of the other, but in this case I will humor you. I am Sabaku no Temari and my companions are Hyuuga Hinata, Higurashi Tenten, Yamanaka Ino and the woman who left was Haruno Sakura. Now I ask again, what is your name?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lord Wyldon didn't know what to think of the young women standing before him and his group. None of them seemed threatening, but there was clear threat in the spiky haired blonde's voice. Not to mention the large object that she held a tight grip on. He had seen the two behind her tense before and wondered about the other, whose eyes looked very strange and who looked extraordinarily focused on something. He decided to humor the women for now.

"I am Lord Wyldon, training master of pages in the palace of the kingdom of Tortall, where you all stand."

The spiky haired woman was opening her mouth to respond when the last woman suddenly ran into the field, her long pink(?) hair flying behind her.

"Temari-chan! Hinata-chan was right! There is a large force of…creatures headed this way. I've never seen the like, some look like giant two-legged bulls while others have the appearance of…I don't know, but Temari…it's bad."

"Damn. You know, it's times like these that I wish the Lazy Ass was here."

"Here here Temari. What do we do?"

Temari glanced at Ino as Tenten pulled her ribbon bracelet off and prepared to unleash her first flurry. The weapons mistress nodded to the others.

"You guys plan with them, I'll run interference for the first wave."

Before anyone could say anything Tenten was running toward the trees and vanished just inside. Temari turned to Lord Wyldon.

"I truly hope you guys can fight. Do you know what we're up against?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Temari waited for Lord Wyldon to answer and pulsed her chakra in a kind of code that would tell Kiseki to wait, grinning a little when she felt the responding pulse.

"The two-legged bulls are most likely Taurus, immortals who like nothing more than to rape human women and kill villagers. If there are Taurus, then there are most likely other immortals with them. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"No time, look!"

Lord Wyldon turned and took in the horde of immortals entering the plain and could do little more than groan at the thought of having to protect the five women as well as the pages. The first to enter was a trio of Taurus, followed swiftly by a group of spidrens.

"Get ready! Pages, turn about and get back to the palace!"

The group of children turned their horses, only to run into flight of hurrok approaching from the sky.

"Lord Wyldon! Hurroks!"

The venerated old warrior looked to the other trainers, the Shang and the swordsman that they had brought with them, and realized that they couldn't win this battle. He opened his mouth to order Nealan to fire-call for help using his Gift, but before he could a hail of various weapons flew from the trees where he remembered the fifth woman disappearing and peppered the immortals. Then he heard the woman who introduced herself as Sabaku no Temari shout, turning just in time for him to see her swing what he now realized was a gigantic fan.

"Daikamaitachi no Jutsu!"

He watched in shock as blades made of wind rushed from the fan and toward the approaching Taurus, slicing them deeply and hurting them badly, though not killing them. He was surprised again when the pink haired woman ran straight toward the approaching immortals and slammed her fist into the ground, causing the earth to shake and a huge crater to appear, making the immortals stumble. Wyldon was confused and didn't have time to react as Hyuuga Hinata rushed past him to where the pages looked on in fear as the Hurroks approached, unable to fight due to not having sufficient weapons. The only one even remotely ready was Keladry, who had requested to bring her glaive, she was on the ground with that terror of a horse behind her, ready to gut the first immortal to reach her. It became unnecessary as Hyuuga stood in front of the pages and began to mover her arms; slowly at first, but getting progressively faster until it was so fast she looked like she had more than two arms.

"Shuugo: Hakke ryujonsho!"

A bright cage of blue energy surrounded the woman and the hurroks literally bounced off the barrier, being thrust into the ground as they hit, Hyuuga not moving as they struck. Yamanaka made her move and sprinted toward the bi-pedal bulls, slashing their throats with the small knife that she held in her hand before the large creatures could recover from the earthquake caused by the pinkette. Higurashi reappeared just as the spidrens recovered and moved among them, twin short blades in her hands singing like a choir as she sliced through them. Things were going surprisingly well, the Tortallans were stunned into stillness and watching these five women taking out an inordinate number of immortals…until a pair of twelve foot tall giants walked into the clearing. Temari looked at them, her eyes widened slightly as the pinkette and Yamanaka flanked her, Higurashi joining them shortly. Hyuuga was still guarding the pages as the other four tried to figure out what to do about the giants.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura smirked as something came to her. She flared her chakra and simply waited, a self-satisfied smile gracing her face. When the others realized her plan they also smiled and stood back to watch the carnage.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kiseki smiled to herself as she sent her chakra into the earth to check on what she was going to be fighting. She had felt it when Sakura had punched the ground and had waited patiently for them to need her. She loved fighting, but she was entirely willing to sit out a fight if the ladies thought that they didn't need her because she knew that they would call for her if they did need her. She sensed two very large somethings and giggled lightly at the thought of the fight to come. Kiseki was the only person in the elemental countries besides Naruto to have honestly beaten a bijuu without any outside help or any extraordinary techniques. She had defeated the four tailed weasel in an all out battle, which was actually one of the main reasons she had been deemed too powerful by her home village and banished. She waited until the massive footfalls that she could feel reverberating through the earth got close enough that she could move underneath it without giving herself away and made her move, grabbing as much of the legs of the first as she could and slamming the creature into the earth up to his neck, using the momentum of the move to break through the surface and find her feet.

Chapter Three: Fighting and Meeting a King

The pages and their trainers watched in fear as the giants approached and the strange women backed toward them. Hyuuga had looked toward the giants and Kel was shocked at just how pale the women could go.

"S-s-sakura-chan? How are we going to…"

"We're not Hinata-chan. Kiseki is."

Kel frowned. They were using honorifics, similar to what was used in the Yamani Islands. Also, the word _sakura_ meant cherry blossom…and _kiseki_ meant miracle…

Their names were Yamani, but not exactly the same Yamani…the young page couldn't spare the time to wonder about it now. All she could do was smile a little at the frightened woman, which strangely enough caused the woman to smile back shyly before she straightened and braced herself for another round of protective jutsu. Kel turned back to watch the giants approach and was just as shocked as everyone else when the giant in the lead was suddenly pulled into the earth with only its head above the surface and a smaller figure took its place on the ground. The new woman was fairly tall, but very slim, her form fitting clothing showing that she was almost on the verge of starvation. Her face was completely covered by a metal mask that was fashioned as a flat curve of metal with a ridge in the center in a different colored metal. She wore bracers on her wrists that were also metal and her hands were covered by leather gloves that held tight to her fingers and palms. There were greaves on her legs, shown off by the short pants she was wearing…in fact they were so short that they were indecent, and her torso was covered by what looked like chainmail and a tight, too short blouse. All of it was in shades of blue, ranging from mid blue to a blue so dark it was almost black. She stood in a light stance and faced the incoming giant as the first one tried to get out of the ground. No one in their group could believe it when they heard a slight giggle come from the form facing off with a giant, but their attention was pulled away by Hyuuga, who tensed.

"Temari-chan, there are more horsemen approaching fast. A large group."

"What do they look like and how far are they?"

"They are fully armored and riding warhorses. They are a mile away and should be here within five minutes at the rate they are coming."

Joren of Stone Mountain was disbelieving, just like the others, but he made his disbelief known.

"How do you know that? It's impossible unless you have the Gift and are in communication with the riders…and somehow I doubt they would be talking to someone like…you."

The derision in his voice made Kel's hackles rise, but it had an even more adverse reaction on the women. Temari growled, Sakura cracked her knuckles and Ino smiled in a way that would make a stormwing want to get as far away as possible. Tenten saw Ino's expression and smirked as the blonde made a single handsign.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu."

Ino hit the ground and Joren stiffened before a strange expression took over his face.

"Hey Sakura, this guy is weak even for an academy student."

The pages and their trainers were shocked to hear Joren's voice saying something that Joren would never say. Sakura sighed and looked at Joren with a smirk.

"Ino, get back to your body; I think we're going to have to heal Kiseki. She's got that look on her again."

Joren sighed and made the same hand sign that Ino had before he collapsed and Ino woke again.

"You're no fun. I was going to embarrass him for what he said to Hinata-chan…"

"You can do that later Ino. Watch Kiseki."

None of the Tortallans had any idea of what was going on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kiseki stretched her neck as the behemoth approached. It was about thirteen feet tall; not nearly the size of the yonbi, but large enough for something with a humanoid form. She watched its movements carefully; she was not one to be cocky during a fight as even an academy student could kill a nin with too much arrogance. The creature moved in a lumbering manner, but then so had Iwa's Stone Serpent and he had nearly killed Kiseki when he suddenly started moving faster than she had expected. She finally decided on what she was going to do and smirked as her fingers moved into a very familiar pattern.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu."

The mist, saturated with her chakra, descended quickly and so thick that the giant keened in confusion, not even noticing when it stepped on its buried companion in its stumbling. Kiseki pulled her sword, a ninjato given to her by her betrothed as a betrothal gift (besides the sapphire ring on a chain around her neck) and waited for just the right moment.

It didn't take long.

XXXXXXXXX

The appearance of the fog dismayed the Tortallans, but the sound of hooves heartened them while the women watched the fog.

"She's done. And uninjured."

"It's a miracle."

He fog cleared and Kiseki stood before the corpse of the creature, her sword clicking back into its sheath as she turned back toward her friends and the approaching horsemen. She never saw the centaur running up behind her.

"Kieski!"

The Tortallans, now including the King's Own, watched in shock as the centaur swung the battle axe in his hand only to cut a log in half as Kiseki vanished and reappeared in a nearby tree. She then lightly jumped onto the creature's back and thrust a kunai into the base of its skull. The thing died instantly and Kiseki leapt lightly off the corpse as it sank to the ground. It was Raoul who noticed that she was bleeding.

"You're hurt."

XXXXXXXX

Kiseki looked at the large man in full armor and smiled behind her mask.

"It is a negligible wound."

She turned to Wyldon and bowed slightly.

"I apologize for keeping my presence a secret, but I am what one would consider to be a 'trump card'. If the others had thought that they could handle the enemy I would have remained in hiding. I am Tokara Kiseki."

The old knight merely nodded at her in shock before gathering himself quickly and glaring down at her.

"Why did you not come back to the line? We would have taken care of it."

Kiseki stiffened and even thought they couldn't see her face everyone there could see that she was upset.

"I did not require aid. I have fought the yonbi to a standstill and then defeated it. I did _not_ need help in defeating two large humanoids and one horse…human…thing!"

Hinata placed her hand on Kiseki's shoulder, shocking the Tortallans who didn't realize that the shy woman had moved.

"It is alright Kiseki-chan. No one here thinks that you needed aid. We know that you are well able to care for yourself."

"Yes well, I've been doing it for most of my life. I am a kunoichi after all."

"Not to mention all the assassination attempts either."

Kiseki nodded and Temari sighed in relief that the volatile nin wouldn't be killing the people that they had only just met. The Suna nin bowed again, this time to Raoul.

"Would you happen to know where we are? We asked Wyldon-sama, but his answer was unsatisfactory."

The large Knight Commander nodded.

"You are just about six miles outside of Corus, the capital city of the kingdom of Tortall."

Temari looked at each of the other women and when all of them shook their heads in the negative she cursed vibrantly. She holstered her fan and began to pace.

"What are we supposed to do now?! I've never heard of 'Tortall' or 'Corus' and I've never even _heard_ of whatever creatures we just ran into! Dammit I want Shika!"

Kiseki snickered at the loud declaration and at Temari's wicked glare the snickers became loud guffaws and she bent over double.

"Shut up Kiseki! Like you feel any differently about wanting your bug-nin; and take off that damn mask, it's getting irritating looking at it when I should be yelling into your face. "

The woman nodded and pulled the mask off, exposing her face to the world of magic, immortals and knights for the first time. Her looks were such that the Tortallans were shocked into stillness, even Kel, who didn't really care what these strange women looked like. Kiseki had short hair, even shorter than Kel's own, and it was such an odd shade of light blue, almost teal, that it caught the eye and held it. Once she got past the hair her attention was caught by the long scar that bisected her right eye, the eye itself a vaguely milky violet. Her other eye was a vibrant color of forest green, dark and deep enough to lose yourself in. Despite the scar her face was delicate and pretty, pretty enough to catch the attentions of some of the Own.

"Calm down Temari, don't undo all that those hot springs did for your nerves. I'm sure that we'll find our way home soon enough, but for now we should perhaps ask if our hosts have a way to send us home."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine."

Temari turned toward the men and girl, ignoring the knickers coming from her friends.

"Do you perhaps have anyone or anything that could get us home, do you?"

XXXXXXXXX

Raoul found that he was greatly amused by these strange women and smiled at the blond with the spiky horse's tails.

"I know of nothing that can help you, but I do know that possibly the only person in this realm who might would probably be Master Numair Salmalin. We can escort all of you back to Corus for an audience if you wish?"

Temari nodded, as did the other kunoichi, and Kiseki replaced her mask.

"Okay, now how are we going to situate everyone regarding the horses? I guess that Miss Temari can ride with Domitan and the lovely pink-haired woman can ride with-"

"Sumimasen Raoul-san, but we will be fine with walking. Do not worry about leaving us behind, we will be fine."

The Knight Commander looked very unsure at that, but nodded, figuring that the women knew their own abilities and that if they had a way to keep up with those on horseback then he would let them use it.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kiseki took it upon herself to take point, racing forward at a speed that would only be beaten by Rock Lee and his crazy sensei and making note of the wooded area that was similar to Konoha. As she was born in Iwa, Kiseki couldn't tell the difference between various species of trees and she was barely able to fight in heavily wooded areas, more accustomed to stone than forests. When she reached the edge of the trees she took one leap and vanished into the branches faster than the knights, Own and pages could blink. Temari smirked when they turned to her for an explanation.

"Kiseki is the most sensitive when it comes to approaching energy. She will be able to warn us far in advance if something is coming. Shall we continue?"

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The trip back to Corus didn't take long at all and again the Tortallans were surprised when they realized that yes, the women could keep up with their horses while being on foot and the scout that they sent ahead never crossed Kiseki's path, even with his horse flat out running. It wasn't until the large group got to the outskirts of the capital that they saw Kiseki again and that was only because she could not abide the terrible crowds in the city. She placed herself in the center of the women's small formation so that no one she didn't know could touch her. They walked beside the horsemen and pages, somehow without being touched by the massive amount of people in the capital for the market.

When they arrived at the palace the women had to admit that they had never seen anything like it and that it was beautiful. The thing with Hidden Villages is that they are constantly being attacked, so the architecture was often mis-matched and the Hokage tower, as all Kage towers tended to be, was pockmarked and damaged in a great number of places. It was a part of life in a Hidden Village and they were accustomed to it, but seeing this huge palace, untouched by enemy attack and completely undamaged was a bit of a novelty. Even the Kazekage Tower had taken damage in its time, the most recent caused by the attack on Gaara by Diedara and Sasori when they took Shukaku from the young Kazekage. The women followed the residents to the stables where the horses were dropped off and Raoul motioned for them to follow him as the others began to take care of their mounts. The large man wore a grin as he led the women into the castle, pointing out certain things, though nothing that would expose any kind of weaknesses. The trip to where the king and queen were was relatively short and soon enough the six women were standing in front of the monarchs of Tortall. Sabaku no Temari was the elder sister of the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara; former carrier of the Suna no Shukaku and former psycho. It was not easy to intimidate her in the least, but she found herself a little bit intimidated by the people standing around the two people at the head of the table. The king was a clear-faced man with hair so black that it was almost blue, darker even than the Uchiha's hair, and bright, kind blue eyes. Temari could tell though that those eyes could be hard as steel if one were to threaten his kingdom or his subjects. The queen was hands down one of the most breathtaking women that the kunoichi had ever seen. However, her raven hair and delicate features didn't hide the thread of iron that the ninja could sense under her royal carriage. The woman was a fighter and the nins couldn't help but respect her for that. The next person their attention caught was a woman who was obviously a warrior, through and through, standing beside a woman in heavy armor who looked at them through unsettling purple eyes. The man standing beside the king had an expression that Temari recognized from Shikamaru; that vacant, but not stare. She knew that while he looked absent-minded he was sharp and was probably the most powerful person in the room besides the kunoichi. The woman beside him was, by her body language and his, his significant other. She had brown hair and odd gray-blue eyes that reminded Temari of one of the storms that occasionally hit Suna. The king motioned for the women to sit, though only five did. Kiseki took up her normal position of guard, standing beside the door palming a kunai with her senses stretched to their limit. It was a paranoid habit that she had gotten into that no one could break unless she was with Shino, so Sakura merely sighed and motioned for the others to sit. The blue eyed man began by introducing himself as King Jonathon and his wife as Queen Thayet.

"The people here with us are some of my most trusted advisors starting with Alanna, a knight of the realm and mage. Then there is Daine, the Wildmage and her husband Numair Salmalin, who is the most powerful mage in the realm. Now, Raoul has told us some of what happened, but would you please introduce yourselves first?"

It was fashioned as a question, but all the kunoichi knew that it was a demand and allowed Temari to talk as she had the most experience with diplomacy and would know how much information to give. Temari bowed with a small smirk.

"I am Sabaku no Temari, elder sister of the Kazekage no sunagakure no sato no kaze no kuni, jounin and ambassador to Konohagakure no sato. With me are my friends and mission teammates from Konohagakure no sato. On my right is Haruno Sakura, jounin and apprentice to Senju Tsunade of the densetsu no sannin, the Hokage of Konohagakure no sato no hi no kuni. Beside her is Higurashi Tenten, jounin and weapons mistress of Konohagakure. On my left is Yamanaka Ino, jounin and apprentice to Morino Ibiki of the Torture and Interrogation unit of Konohagakure. Beside her is Hyuuga Hinata, jounin and heiress of the Hyuuga Clan. The woman at the door is Tokara Kiseki, last of the Tokara Clan. Ranked jounin, she is the only person to fight and defeat a bijuu in recent memory."

The Tortallans had listened to the woman, Sabaku, introduce herself and the women she was with, but they didn't understand a lot of what she had said. It was strange, like she could speak common, but didn't know the words for certain things and just used her native tongue.

"I'm sorry Sabaku, but I didn't understand much of the terms you used. Could you perhaps clarify them for us?"

The blonde woman looked confused for a moment, but it was the woman at the door who spoke next.

"Her name is Temari, not Sabaku. Where we are from our family names are told first, then our personal names. I believe that in your tongue the closest translation would be 'Temari of the Desert' as her brothers would be 'Kankuro of the Desert' and 'Gaara of the Desert'."

The royals and their associates looked at the woman before Jonathon continued, this time addressing Kiseki.

"Can you translate what Lady Temari said then?"

"She said that her name was Temari of the Desert, elder sister of the Wind Shadow of the Village Hidden in the Sand in Wind country. She is ranked a jounin, or high ranked shinobi ambassador to Village Hidden in the Leaves. With her are her friends and mission teammates from Konohagakure no sato. On her right is Sakura Haruno, jounin and apprentice to Tsunade Senju of the Legendary Three, the Fire Shadow of the Village Hidden in the Leaves of Fire country. Beside her is Tenten Higurashi, jounin and weapons mistress of Konohagakure. On my left is Ino Yamanaka, jounin and apprentice to Morino Ibiki of the Torture and Interrogation unit of Konohagakure. Beside her is Hinata Hyuuga, jounin and heiress of the Hyuuga Clan. I am Kiseki Tokara, last of the Tokara Clan. Ranked jounin, I am the only person to fight and defeat a tailed beast in recent memory."

The next question aimed at Kiseki was from Thayet who, while obviously speaking to Kiseki, did not snub the others.

"And…is there any particular meaning to your names? What I mean is that, many names of our people have significance in station, demarking one's hereditary rank. Do your people have a similar system?"

Kiseki shook her head.

"Not in either Suna or Konoha; the Sand or the Leaf villages. Iwa, the Rock village does, but only within the so called 'royal clans' and I'm not sure about Kiri or Kusa at this point, considering the massacres that have gone on in recent years. My name is Miracle, I'm not sure why. Sakura-san's name literally means 'Cherry blossom of Spring', while Tenten means 'here and there'. Our names really very rarely denote who we really are. The only ones who have that distinction here are Temari-san and Hinata-san. Temari-san is the elder sister of Kazekage-dono, who is the leader of the the Village Hidden in the Sand, while Hinata-san is the heiress of one of, if not the most famous clan remaining in the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

Ino decided right then that she should interject her own opinion into the fray.

"Don't sell yourself short Kiseki, just because Iwa couldn't see that you were someone of import. Your power is immense and your own kekki genkai is very useful."

Kiseki's response was very dry. Very dry.

"My kekki genkai is also the reason that I cannot swim."

"True, but you can't get broken bones and no one would ever be able to simply blast you away when you don't want to be moved."

Those of Tortall watched, a bit more than a little confused, as the women bantered back and forth. Jonathon really _looked_ at the women and noticed that even though they all seemed to be relaxed, they were all ready to jump into action at any time.

_It must be a violent world that they come from._

"Well, I believe that my mage would like to ask you all a few questions so that he can begin the process of finding you a way home. Master Salmalín?"

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Sorry this took, like, forever to get out, but I've been working and writing a novel. Busy, busy. My other stories will also be updated within the month, those that I am continuing anyway.


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